Case Summary (G.R. No. 195466)
Parties
Petitioner/Appellants (who appealed): Conchita McLachlin and the other defendants named above.
Respondents/Appellees (who obtained judgment below): Socorro Ledesma and Ana Quitco Ledesma.
Key Dates
Execution of promissory note by Lorenzo M. Quitco: January 21, 1922.
Due date of last installment (P1,500): January 21, 1924.
Death of Lorenzo M. Quitco: March 9, 1930.
Death of Eusebio Quitco (grandfather): December 15, 1932.
Filing of claim before committee on claims and appraisal (intestate of Eusebio): August 26, 1933.
Filing of complaint giving rise to the case: June 26, 1934.
Decision under review (trial court): judgment that Ana was an acknowledged natural daughter (for legal purposes) but denied her share in Eusebio’s estate; ordered defendants to pay Socorro P1,500 with interest.
Applicable Law and Constitutional Basis
Applicable statutes and rules invoked in the decision: provisions of the Civil Code on representation (arts. 924–927), and provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure on prescription and on administration of estates (including sec. 642 and sec. 43, No. 1). Applicable constitution for legal context: the 1935 Philippine Constitution (decision predates the 1987 Constitution).
Focal Issues on Appeal
- Whether the action to recover the unpaid P1,500 note installment had prescribed.
- Whether property inherited by appellants by representation from their grandfather Eusebio must answer for debts contracted by their deceased father Lorenzo (who died insolvent).
- Whether the trial court erred in jointly and severally condemning the defendants to pay Socorro P1,500.
Relevant Trial Facts
From 1916–1921 Socorro lived maritally with Lorenzo M. Quitco and bore him a daughter, Ana. Lorenzo executed a deed acknowledging Ana as his natural daughter and executed a promissory note to Socorro dated January 21, 1922 for P2,000 with scheduled payments including a final P1,500 due two years later. Lorenzo later married Conchita and had four children. Lorenzo died in 1930; his father Eusebio died in 1932 leaving property subject to intestate proceedings (civil case No. 6153). Socorro presented the promissory note to the committee on claims and appraisal in the intestate proceedings of Eusebio in August 1933; commissioners referred the claim to the court and ultimately denied it for lack of jurisdiction. Socorro then filed the present complaint in June 1934.
Court’s Analysis — Prescription of the Claim
The Court found the promissory note’s last installment due January 21, 1924. The action to recover P1,500 was filed on June 26, 1934 — more than ten years after maturity. The filing of the claim before the committee on claims and appraisal in the intestate of Eusebio did not interrupt or suspend prescription because the note was an obligation of Lorenzo, not of Eusebio; therefore the proper administrative or judicial remedy to collect from Lorenzo’s estate should have been pursued in the intestate of Lorenzo pursuant to section 642 of the Code of Civil Procedure (which permits a creditor to institute proceedings for appointment of an administrator to collect the credit). Because more than ten years elapsed, the action had prescribed under section 43, No. 1, of the Code of Civil Procedure. The Court held the first assignment of error (appellants’ contention that recovery had prescribed) to be well-founded.
Court’s Analysis — Representation and Liability for Predecessor’s Debts
The Court recognized that under articles 924–927 of the Civil Code a child may represent a predeceased parent in the estate of the grandparent (representation). However, the Court emphasized that representation does not render the representative child liable for obligations contracted by the deceased parent. The governing principle is that heirs receive the inheritance with the benefit of inventory: they answer only with the properties they receive from the predecessor. Because Lorenzo died without leaving assets that passed to his children, the children who inherited from Eusebio by representation were not liable to pay Lorenzo’s debts out of the properties they received from Eusebio. Consequently, the second assignment of error (that inherited property should answer for Lorenzo’s obligations) was well-founded.
Court’s Disposition and Effect on Third Assignment
Given the conclusions on prescription and on the non-liability of heirs by representation for the deceased parent’s obligations, the Court found the third assignment of error (condemnation to pay jointly and severally P1,500) to be a mere sequel and likewise well-founded. The appealed judgm
Case Syllabus (G.R. No. 195466)
Citation and Court
- Reported at 66 Phil. 547, G.R. No. 44837.
- Decision dated November 23, 1938.
- Opinion authored by Justice Villa-Real.
- Concurring Justices: Avancena, C. J., Imperial, Diaz, Laurel, and Concepcion, JJ.
Parties
- Plaintiffs and Appellees: Socorro Ledesma and Ana Quitco Ledesma.
- Defendants and Appellants: Conchita McLachlin, Lorenzo Quitco, jr., Sabina Quitco, Rafael Quitco, and Marcela Quitco.
Procedural Posture
- Appeal taken by the defendants (appellants) from the decision of the Court of First Instance of Occidental Negros.
- Trial court rendered judgment declaring Ana Quitco Ledesma an acknowledged natural daughter of the deceased Lorenzo M. Quitco for legal purposes, but absolved defendants from the prayer that Ana be declared entitled to share in properties left by Eusebio Quitco.
- Trial court ordered defendants to pay plaintiff Socorro Ledesma jointly and severally the sum of P1,500 with legal interest from filing of complaint until paid; no pronouncement as to costs.
- Appellants appealed, assigning three errors claimed to have been committed by the trial court.
Trial Court Dispositive Findings (as set out in appealed decision)
- Ana Quitco Ledesma declared an acknowledged natural daughter of deceased Lorenzo M. Quitco for legal purposes.
- Defendants absolved from the prayer that Ana be declared entitled to share in the properties left by deceased Eusebio Quitco.
- Defendants ordered to pay Socorro Ledesma jointly and severally P1,500 with legal interest from the filing of the complaint until fully paid.
- No pronouncement made as to costs.
Appellants’ Assignments of Error
- Assignment No. 1: Trial court erred in holding that the action to recover P1,500, representing the last installment of promissory note Exhibit C, has not prescribed.
- Assignment No. 2: Trial court erred in holding that properties inherited by the defendants from their deceased grandfather by right of representation are subject to debts and obligations of their deceased father who died without any property.
- Assignment No. 3: Trial court erred in condemning defendants to pay jointly and severally the plaintiff Socorro Ledesma the sum of P1,500.
Stipulated and Established Facts (as set out in the appealed decision)
- From 1916 to 1921 Socorro Ledesma lived maritally with Lorenzo M. Quitco while he was single; a daughter, Ana Quitco Ledesma, was born of that relation.
- In 1921 the relation ended; Lorenzo executed a deed (Exhibit A) acknowledging Ana as his natural daughter.
- On January 21, 1922 Lorenzo issued promissory note Exhibit C in favor of Socorro Ledesma for P2,000, with payment terms:
- P250 due March 1, 1922;
- P250 due November 1, 1922;
- Remaining P1,500 to be paid two years from the date of execution (i.e., January 21, 1924).
- Lorenzo M. Quitco subsequently married Conchita McLachlin and had four children (the other defendants).
- Lorenzo M. Quitco died March 9, 1930.
- Eusebio Quitco, father of Lorenzo M. Quitco, died December 15, 1932, leaving real and personal properties, and administration proceedings were instituted as "Intestate of the deceased Eusebio Quitco," Civil Case No. 6153 in the Court of First Instance of Occidental Negros.
- Upon institution of the intestate of Eusebio and appointment of a committee on claims and appraisal, Socorro Ledesma filed the promissory note for payment before said committee on August 26, 1935.
- Commissioners, upon receiving the promissory note, elevated the claim to the court en consulta (Exhibit F).
- Honora